changed until a full and frank debate is held in Parliament, a Shadow Minister has said.

And PLP finance spokesman Eugene Cox said attempts to have this debate in any other circle before it was thrashed out in the House of Assembly would be improper.

Mr. Cox spoke to The Royal Gazette after it emerged that a an exempted company planning a business hotel in Hamilton may seek relief from the 60-40 rule.

This rule requires that companies operating in Bermuda -- as opposed to exempted companies -- must be at least 60 percent Bermudian owned.

But TG International Investments Ltd., which wants to build a five-star hotel on the Par-La-Ville car park site, is likely to seek an exemption to the rule.

Glynn Shouldice, president and chief executive officer, said: "As far as I'm aware, every hotel on the Island is exempt from the 60-40 rule.

"It's a rule which doesn't apply to the hotel trade and all the big hotels have exemption certificates.

"We will go through that process of applying to be exempted from the rule.'' Plans for the hotel are at the very preliminary stages. TG International, an exempted corporation and financial company, will pay for the full cost of the development which is estimated to be some $60 million.

Mr. Cox said he was not prepared to speak about anything to do with what TG International "may or may not do''. But he said the principles behind the 60-40 rule were too important to give up without good reason.

He said: "As a party we feel that the entire matter of the 60-40 rule should be visited and looked at on an ongoing, case by case, basis.'' "At this point and time we certainly do not, without any proper study being done, want it relinquished.

"We are concerned that if the goalposts are moved it will open the floodgates. We are opposed to that.'' Moreover Mr. Cox said he was concerned that the debate of the rules governing company ownership is taking place in the wrong forum.

He added: "I don't want to see a debate on this important issue being waged in the media.

"This matter should be fully debated in the House first. I agree that the Companies Act preserves the 60-40 rule.

"However I do not like the public being given these doses of the debate by all the various groups like the Chamber of Commerce.

"What happens is that a consensus is formed in the public mind and then the Minister is free to come before the House with changes to the rule because the people want it.'' Finance Minister Grant Gibbons has said Mr. Cox's worries were clearly unfounded because the 60-40 rule was a matter of legislation.

Therefore he said there was absolutely no question that it could be eliminated unless that was what Parliament wanted.